Fun Facts about Ethiopia

Lucy, the oldest human fossil who lived over three million years ago, was found in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is widely considered the site of the emergence of anatomically modern humans, Homo sapiens, in the Middle Paleolithic about 200,000 years ago. The earliest known modern human bones were found in Southwestern Ethiopia, and are called the Omo remains.

Coffee, one of the world's most popular beverages, was discovered in Ethiopia, in the region of Kaffa.

The best-known Ethiopian cuisine consists of various thick meat stews, known as wat in Ethiopian culture, and vegetable side dishes served atop injera, a large sourdough flatbread made of teff flour.

Ethiopia is the only country in the world with 13 months. It is also eight years behind the Western calendar. They celebrate the New Year on September 11th.

Time in Ethiopia is counted differently than in many Western countries. The Ethiopian day starts with the sunrise, usually at 6 AM as opposed to 12 AM, and as such can vary throughout the year.

Traditionally, parents and children do not share a last name. Most children take their father's first name as their last name.

The main sports in Ethiopia are athletics (particularly long distance running) and football.

Ethiopian Abebe Bikila was the first Sub-Saharan African to win gold in the Olympic Games. He finished the 1960 marathon in first place after running the whole race barefoot. He was the first athlete to win the Olympic marathon twice when he retained the gold model four years later in Tokyo.

Ethiopia is a founding member of the United Nations and the African Union.

Ethiopia is a multilingual nation with around 80 ethnolinguistic groups, the three largest of which are the Tigray, Oromo and Amhara.

Every late November thousands of people from around the world travel to Ethiopia to take part of the Great Ethiopian Run.​